"Dan Simmons - Orphans of the Helix" - читать интересную книгу автора (Simmons Dan)

Dem Lia gestured toward the swarms of Ousters closing on the ship. They were only a few
thousand kilometers away now. They had been broadcasting their peaceful intentions across the old
radio band-widths for more than a standard day. "Do you still feel that it's too risky?" she asked
the tall AI.
"Yes," said Basho.
Dem Lia nodded, frowning slightly. It was always disturbing when the AIs disagreed on an
important issue, but that was why the Aeneans had left them Autonomous after the breakup of the
TechnoCore. And that was why there were five to vote.
"The rest of you obviously saw the risk as acceptable?"


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Lady Murasaki answered in her low, demure voice, almost a whisper. "We saw it as an excellent
possibility to restock new foodstuffs and water, while the cultural implications were more for you
to ponder and act on than for us to decide. Of course, we had not detected the huge spacecraft in
the system before we translated out of Hawking space. It might have affected our decision."
"This is a human-Ouster culture, almost certainly with a sizable Templar population, that may
not have had contact with the outside human universe since the earliest Hegemony days, if then,"
said Ikky├╗ with great enthusiasm. "They may well be the farthest-flung outpost of the ancient
Hegira. Of all humankind. A wonderful learning opportunity."
Dem Lia nodded impatiently. "We close to rendezvous within a few hours. You've heard their
radio contact -- they say they wish to greet us and talk, and we've been polite in return. Our
dialects are not so diverse that the translator beads can't handle them in face-to-face
conversations. But how can we know if they actually come in peace?"
Ry├┤kan cleared his throat. "It should be remembered that for more than a thousand years, the so-
called Wars with the Ousters were provoked -- first by the Hegemony and then by the Pax. The
original Ouster deep-space settlements were peaceful places and this most-distant colony would
have experienced none of the conflict."
Saigy├┤ chuckled from his comfortable perch on nothing. "It should also be remembered that
during the actual Pax wars with the Ousters, to defend themselves, these peaceful, space-adapted
humans learned to build and use torchships, modified Hawking drive warships, plasma weapons, and
even some captured Pax Gideon drive weapons." He waved his bare arm. "We've scanned every one of
these advancing Ousters, and none carry a weapon -- not so much as a wooden spear."
Dem Lia nodded. "Kern Loi has shown me astronomical evidence which suggests that their moored
seedship was torn away from the ring at an early date -- possibly only years or months after they
arrived. This system is devoid of asteroids, and the Oort cloud has been scattered far beyond
their reach. It is conceivable that they have neither metal nor an industrial capacity."
"Ma'am," said Basho, his countenance concerned, "how can we know that? Ousters have modified
their bodies sufficiently to generate forcefield wings that can extend for hundreds of kilometers.
If they approach the ship closely enough, they could theoretically use the combined plasma effect
of those wings to attempt to breach the containment fields and attack the ship."
"Beaten to death by angels' wings," Dem Lia mused softly. "An ironic way to die."
The AI's said nothing.
"Who is working most directly with Patek Georg Dem Mio on defense strategies?" Dem Lia asked
into the silence.
"I am," said Ry├┤kan.
Dem Lia had known that, but she still thought, Thank God it's not Basho. Patek Georg was
paranoid enough for the AI-human interface team on this specialty.